JPH09274785A - Tape cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tape cartridge being superior in assembling in which assembling a door spring and a opening/closing cap to a holding shaft and assembling a door lock to the opening/closing cap are easily performed, and smooth operation of the door lock can be performed. SOLUTION: In a tape cartridge for a data cartridge, a cylindrical holding shaft 29 having a hole part 31 in which a coil spring 30 is housed in it is provided at an inner surface 1a of an upper half 1, a cylindrical spring mounting member 34 having a flange 48 at an lower end part is mounted at a peripheral surface of the holding shaft 29, a door spring 18 is mounted at a peripheral surface of the spring mounting member 34, while a cylindrical rotary holding part 35 provided at an opening/closing cap 17 is mounted at it, a prop 41 of a door lock 37 provided at the opening/closing cap 17 is inserted into a hole part 31 of the holding shaft 29, and the door lock 37 is moved freely vertically by an energized force of the coil spring 30 contacting to the tip of the prop 41.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape cartridge for data storage used as a backup for a computer or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a tape cartridge for data storage used as a backup of a computer or the like is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, a magnetic tape 1 having a disc-shaped upper flange 104 and a lower flange 105 in a cartridge body 103 composed of an upper half 101 and a lower half 102.
A single wound tape reel 107 of 06 is wound on the lower half 1 by a reel spring 108 which is a coil spring.
It has been proposed that it is always biased toward the 02 side and stored.

[0003] The tape reel 107 has an upper flange 1
04 and a lower flange 105, and the upper flange 104
The magnetic tape 106, to which the leader tape 109 is connected, is wound around the hub provided in the. The tape reel 107 has a ring-shaped bearing that is press-fitted and fixed in a circular recess formed in the central portion of the upper flange 104, and a reel rotation support shaft (not shown) is also attached to the bearing, so that the reel. It is designed to rotate around a rotation support shaft.

The tape reel 107 is always urged toward the lower half 102 by a reel spring 108 having one end contacting the inner surface 101a of the upper half 101 and the other end contacting the reel rotation support shaft. I have. The reel spring 108 is a compression coil spring having a cylindrical shape.

In this tape cartridge, a recording and / or reproducing apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as a drive apparatus)
When not in use, the torsion coil spring 11
A pair of brake members 11 urged by 0,111
2 and 113, the tape reel 107 cannot be rotated. That is, the tape reel 107
Are gear portions 11 formed around the outer periphery of the upper flange 104.
In FIG. 4, the meshing portions 115 and 116 provided on the brake members 112 and 113 mesh with each other, so that rotation is impossible.

In the non-use state, the magnetic tape 106 is completely wound around the tape reel 107, and the leader tape 109 is
The hook 3 is engaged with a hook 117 provided on the side of the third side. Further, an opening for pulling out the magnetic tape 106 to the outside of the cartridge main body 103 is closed by an opening / closing lid 118 rotatably attached to the cartridge main body 103.

On the other hand, when the tape cartridge is mounted on the drive unit, the tape reel 107 is lifted to the central position of the cartridge body 103 against the urging force of the reel spring 108, and the brake members 112 and 113 are used. Is unlocked, and the tape reel 107 is made rotatable. Further, the opening / closing lid 118 is opened by lid opening / closing means provided on the drive device side. Further, the magnetic tape 106 is pulled out from the cartridge body 103 to the outside by a tape pulling means provided on the drive device side.

In addition, this tape cartridge is provided with an erroneous erasure prevention member 119 for preventing information from being erroneously recorded on the magnetic tape 106. The erroneous erasure prevention member 119 is used for the opening / closing lid 118.
It is provided slidably on the side surface of the cartridge body 103 on the opposite side.

By the way, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the opening / closing lid 118 is attached to a columnar support shaft 120 formed on the inner surface 101a of the upper half 101 together with a door spring 121 which is a torsion coil spring. Has been.

The door spring 121 has a spring body 121a mounted on the support shaft 120, and one arm 1
21b is locked to the partition wall 123, and the other arm 1
By locking 21 c to the spring locking portion 124 of the opening / closing lid 118, the opening / closing lid 118 is always urged in the direction of closing the opening provided in the cartridge body as indicated by the arrow X in FIG. I am doing it.

The opening / closing lid 118 is a pair of rotation supporting portions 1.
25 and 126, the support shaft 120 is inserted into a shaft mounting hole 127 provided in the rotation support portions 125 and 126, so that the support shaft 120 is rotatably attached to the support shaft 120.

A door lock 128 is provided on the opening / closing lid 118 to prevent the opening / closing lid 118 from being opened carelessly when not in use in a drive device.
Is provided. The door lock 128 is provided at the base end of the opening / closing lid 118.
9 is housed together with the compression coil spring 130, and is moved up and down in the direction indicated by arrow Y in FIG. 7 by the compression coil spring 130.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the door lock 128 has a protrusion 131 provided on one side thereof engaged with a positioning surface 132 provided on the door lock accommodating portion 129, thereby accommodating the door lock accommodating portion. It is designed so as not to get out of the portion 129. When the protrusion 131 is engaged with the positioning surface 132, the front end portion 128 a of the door lock 128 is in a state of protruding from the door lock accommodating portion 129.

The front end portion 128a of the door lock 128
Is fitted into a recess (not shown) formed on the inner surface of the lower half 102 when not in use, and
The rotation of 8 is prevented. In other words, when not in use in the drive device, the lower half 1
The front end portion 128a of the door lock 128 is fitted in the concave portion formed on the inner surface of 02 to lock the opening / closing lid 118 so as to prevent the rotation thereof.

The unlocking of the opening / closing lid 118 is performed by a lid opening / closing means (not shown) provided in the drive device. That is, the lid opening / closing means engages with the notch 133 formed in the door lock 128, and the door locking 128 is pulled down by the lid opening / closing means. Then, the engagement between the front end portion 128a of the door lock 128 and the recessed portion provided in the lower half 102 is released, and the opening / closing lid 118 becomes rotatable.

However, in order to attach the opening / closing lid 118 having the above structure to the support shaft 120, one arm 121b of the door spring 121 is locked to the partition wall 123, and the other arm 121c is engaged with the spring of the opening / closing lid 118. It is necessary to engage with the stopper 124 and incorporate it together with the door spring 121. In addition to this work, the door lock 128, which is a small component, must be incorporated in the door lock housing 129 together with the compression coil spring 130.

As described above, the work of attaching the opening / closing lid 118 together with the door spring 121 to the support shaft 120 and the work of assembling the door lock 128 are considerably troublesome even for an expert.

Therefore, in order to solve these problems, in the prior art, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-1111063, a cylindrical rib for mounting the spring body of the door spring is provided on the opening / closing lid. A tape cartridge has been proposed in which a door lock is provided with a guide portion having a penetrating portion into which a support shaft is inserted.

According to this tape cartridge, since the door spring is not directly attached to the support shaft but is attached to the cylindrical rib provided on the opening / closing lid, it is easy to attach the opening / closing lid to the support shaft together with the door spring. become. Further, since the compression coil spring is provided between the upper end surface of the cylindrical rib and the lower end surface of the guide portion of the door lock, it is not necessary to incorporate the door lock together with the compression coil spring into the door lock accommodating portion. Becomes extremely easy.

However, in the above tape cartridge, the compression coil spring and the door spring easily contact each other,
The expansion and contraction of the compression coil spring may not operate smoothly. As a result, it may interfere with the vertical movement of the door lock.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to easily assemble the door spring and the opening / closing lid to the support shaft, and to assemble the door lock to the opening / closing lid, and to make the door lock operate smoothly. To provide an excellent tape cartridge.

[0022]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a single tape reel, in which a magnetic tape having an upper flange and a lower flange is wound in a cartridge main body composed of an upper half and a lower half, is provided by a coil spring. A tape cartridge which is always biased and stored in the lower half side, and in which an opening provided in the cartridge body is freely opened and closed by an opening / closing lid, a hole portion in which a coil spring is housed inside is formed on the inner surface of the upper half. A cylindrical support shaft having
A cylindrical spring mounting member having a flange at the lower end is mounted on the peripheral surface of the support shaft, a door spring is mounted on the peripheral surface of the spring mounting member, and a cylindrical rotation supporting portion provided on the opening / closing lid. A door lock post provided on the opening / closing lid is inserted into the hole of the support shaft, and the door lock can be moved up and down by the urging force of the coil spring in contact with the tip of the post. The above object is achieved by providing a characteristic tape cartridge.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a specific tape cartridge to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a tape cartridge used for data storage used as a backup of a computer.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a tape cartridge,
2 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of an essential part of a portion to which the opening / closing lid is attached, FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of an essential part of the portion to which the opening / closing lid is attached, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of an essential portion of the portion to which the opening / closing lid is attached. Is.

The tape cartridge of this embodiment is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, a single tape reel 7 on which a magnetic tape 6 having an upper flange 4 and a lower flange 5 is wound in a cartridge body 3 composed of an upper half 1 and a lower half 2.
Is a tape cartridge which is always urged toward the lower half 2 side by a reel spring 8 which is a coil spring and stored.

The tape cartridge of this embodiment will be described in more detail. As shown in FIG. 1, the upper half 1 is provided with a first brake member 9 and a second brake member 10 for preventing the tape reel 7 from rotating when not used in a drive device. ing.

The first brake member 9 has a comb-teeth-shaped meshing portion 12 that meshes with a gear portion 11 formed on the outer periphery of the upper flange 4, and is provided on the inner surface of the upper half 1 and is not shown. It is rotatably attached to the brake support shaft. Then, the first brake member 9
The meshing portion 12 is constantly urged in the direction meshing with the gear portion 11 by a first reel lock spring 13 formed of a torsion coil spring.

The second brake member 10 also has a comb-teeth-shaped meshing portion 14 that meshes with the gear portion 11 formed on the outer periphery of the upper flange 4, and is provided on the inner surface of the upper half 1 as illustrated. It is mounted rotatably on the brake support shaft. The second brake member 10 is urged by a second reel lock spring 15 also composed of a torsion coil spring in a direction in which the meshing portion 14 meshes with the gear portion 11.

Further, the upper half 1 has an opening 28 for pulling out the magnetic tape 6 from the cartridge body 3 to the outside.
An opening / closing lid 17 is provided to open and close the opening. The opening / closing lid 17 is configured such that a door spring 18 formed of a torsion coil spring always urges the opening 28 in a direction to close the opening 28. Also, this opening / closing lid 17
When not in use, the door lock will prevent it from being opened accidentally.

On the other hand, the lower half 2 is provided with a hook 20 for hooking the leader tape 19 connected to the end portion of the magnetic tape 6. This hook 20
Has a hook-shaped tip, and a leader tape 19
The leader tape 19 is accurately positioned by being inserted into and engaged with a notch (not shown) provided in the tape. When the leader tape 19 is positioned by the hook 20, the magnetic tape 6 can be reliably pulled out of the cartridge body 3 by the tape pull-out means provided on the drive device side.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the lower half 2 is formed with an opening 21 for exposing the tip of a hub (not shown) protruding from the lower flange 5 to the outside. The opening 21 is a circular hole at the center of the lower half 2.

An erroneous erasure prevention member 16 is provided between the upper half 1 and the lower half 2 to prevent information from being erroneously recorded on the magnetic tape 6. The erroneous erasure prevention member 16 is slidably provided on one side wall of the cartridge body 3.

The tape reel 7 provided between the upper half 1 and the lower half 2 is integrally provided on the upper flange 4 and the lower flange 5 for adjusting the winding state of the magnetic tape 6. And a hub around which the magnetic tape 6 is wound. The upper flange 4 is formed as a disk, and the outer peripheral edge of the upper flange 4 has a meshing portion 12 of the first brake member 9 and a second brake member 1.
The gear section 11 meshes with the 0 meshing section 14.

A circular recess 22 is formed in the center of the upper flange 4. Then, the recess 22
A disc 23 having a disc shape, which functions as a bearing when the tape reel 7 rotates, is fitted in the center portion of the tape reel 7. A ball 25 made of a metal material rotatably held on a reel rotation support shaft 24 that supports the rotation of the tape reel 7 comes into contact with the disk 23.

On the other hand, the lower flange 5 is formed as a disk body having a circular fitting hole 26 facing the tip of the hub at its center, and the fitting hole 26 is fitted to the tip of the hub. Thus, the hub is fixed to the hub. The tape reel 7 is accommodated between the upper half 1 and the lower half 2 fixed by screws 27.

In the tape cartridge thus constructed, the tape reel 7 is urged toward the lower half 2 by the reel spring 8 when not in use and not mounted in the drive device. The tape reel 7 is in a non-rotatable state by the first brake member 9 and the second brake member 10. Further, the opening / closing lid 17 is closed by a door lock, and the leader tape 9 is locked by the hook 20.

On the other hand, when the tape reel 7 is mounted on the drive device and used, the tape reel 7 is lifted to the central position of the cartridge body 3 against the biasing force of the reel spring 8 and the brake members 9 and 10 are moved. The lock is released, and the tape reel 7 can be rotated. Then, the opening / closing lid 17 is opened by the lid opening / closing means provided on the drive device side, and the magnetic tape 6 is pulled out from the cartridge body 3 to the outside by the tape pulling means also provided on the drive device side.

Thus, in the tape cartridge of the present embodiment, the opening / closing lid 17 is attached to the support shaft 29 formed on the inner surface 1a of the upper half 1 together with the door spring 18, as shown in FIG. ing.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the support shaft 29 is a cylindrical shaft having a hole portion 31 for accommodating the compression coil spring 30 therein, and is projected from the inner surface 1a of the upper half 1. Has been done. A columnar spring guide member 32 for guiding the compression coil spring 30 is provided on the bottom surface of the hole 31. The spring guide member 32 is configured to guide the compression coil spring 30 from the inside by inserting and inserting the compression coil spring 30. Further, the spring guide member 32 has a function of allowing the compression coil spring 30 to normally expand and contract.

Further, at the upper end portion of the support shaft 29, a relief portion 33 for preventing contact with a door lock described later.
Are formed. The escape portion 33 is cut out by an amount corresponding to the stroke of the door lock that moves up and down.

The opening / closing lid 17 has a shape sufficient to cover the opening 28 of the cartridge body 3 and has a rotation supporting portion 35 mounted on the peripheral surface of a spring mounting member 34, which will be described later. The rotation support portion 35 is formed in a cylindrical shape having a through hole 36 into which the spring mounting member 34 is fitted and inserted.

A door lock 3 is provided at the base end portion of the opening / closing lid 17 for preventing the opening / closing lid 17 from being opened carelessly when not used in the drive device.
A door lock housing portion 38 for housing 7 is provided. Further, a spring locking portion 39 for locking the second arm portion 18c of the door spring 18 is provided at the base end portion of the opening / closing lid 17.

The door lock 37 is composed of a lock piece 40 accommodated in the door lock accommodating portion 38, and a column 41 inserted into a hole 31 provided in the support shaft 29. The lock piece 40 has a substantially U-shaped side surface and is slidably accommodated in the door lock accommodating portion 38. Notch 42 formed in the center of the lock piece 40
The door lock 37 by pushing the door lock 37 downwards.
A lid opening / closing means (not shown) for releasing the lock is engaged.

On one side surface of the door lock 37, the door lock 3 is inserted from the door lock accommodating portion 38.
A protrusion 43 is provided to prevent 7 from coming out. The protrusion 43 is formed as a protrusion having a substantially triangular shape in plan view, and engages with the positioning surface 44 provided in the door lock accommodating portion 38 to prevent the protrusion from the door lock accommodating portion 38.

The support column 41 has a hole 3 in the support shaft 29.
It is formed as a column-shaped column to be inserted into 1. The column 41 is connected to the lock piece 40 via a connecting portion 45 on the tip side thereof.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the door spring 18 includes a spring body 18a, a first arm portion 18b extending from the spring body 18a, and a second arm portion 18b.
And a torsion coil spring having an arm portion 18c.

The spring body 18a is formed by winding a predetermined number of spring wire rods having a circular cross section into a cylindrical shape. A spring mounting member 34, which will be described later, is inserted into a hole 46 provided at the center of the spring wire rod. I am doing it.

The first arm portion 18b is the spring body 18
It is provided as a straight arm from the upper end of a toward the outside. And this first arm 1
8b is a partition wall 4 provided on the inner surface 1a of the upper half 1.
7.

On the other hand, the second arm portion 18c is composed of the first arm portion 1c.
It is provided as a straight arm in a direction opposite to 8b from the lower end of the spring body 18a toward the outside. And this second arm portion 18c
Is locked to a spring locking portion 39 provided on the opening / closing lid 17.

The spring mounting member 34 has a cylindrical shape having a flange 48 at the lower end, and the support shaft 29 is inserted through a center hole 49 thereof. The spring body 18a is mounted on the peripheral surface of the spring mounting member 34, and
The rotation support portion 35 of the opening / closing lid 17 is attached. The spring main body 18 a is mounted on the base end side of the spring mounting member 34 so as to be supported by the flange 48. On the other hand, the rotation support portion 35 is mounted on the spring body 18a.

The opening / closing lid 17 configured as described above is assembled with the door spring 18 on the support shaft 29 as follows. First, the compression coil spring 30 is dropped into the hole 31 of the support shaft 29. Then, the compression coil spring 30 is mounted on the peripheral surface of the spring guide member 32 provided on the bottom surface of the hole 31. As a result, the compression coil spring 3
0 is guided from the inside by the spring guide member 32, and is also guided from the outside by the inner wall of the support shaft 29.

Next, the spring mounting member 34 is mounted on the peripheral surface of the support shaft 29. Next, the door spring 18 is mounted on the peripheral surface of the spring mounting member 34, and the rotation support portion 35 of the opening / closing lid 17 is mounted on the peripheral surface of the spring mounting member 34. Then, the first arm portion 18b of the door spring 18 is locked to the partition wall 47, and the second arm portion 18c is locked to the spring locking portion 39 of the opening / closing lid 17.

Next, the lock piece 40 of the door lock 37 is accommodated in the door lock accommodating portion 38, and the column 41
Is inserted into the hole 31 of the support shaft 29. Then, the door lock 37 is pushed in so that the projection 43 formed on the side surface of the door lock 37 is engaged with the positioning surface 44 provided in the door lock housing portion 38. As a result, the door lock 37 does not come out of the door lock housing portion 38.

As described above, in the tape cartridge of this embodiment, the door spring 18 and the opening / closing lid 17 are not directly attached to the support shaft 29 provided in the upper half 1, but the door spring 18 and the opening / closing lid 17 are attached.
The spring mounting member 34, and the spring mounting member 34
Since it is attached to the support shaft 29, the door spring 18 and the opening / closing lid 17 can be easily assembled to the support shaft 29.

The compression coil spring 30, which is a small component for moving the door lock 37 up and down, is housed in the hole 31 of the support shaft 29, and the spring guide member 32 provided at the bottom of the hole 31 and the support shaft 29. Since it is guided by the inner wall, its assemblability is improved. As described above, since the compression coil spring 30 is housed in the hole 31 in advance, it is not necessary to incorporate the door lock 37 together with the compression coil spring 30, and the door lock 37 can be easily assembled to the door lock housing 38. Becomes

Further, since the compression coil spring 30 is not in contact with the door spring 18, the door lock 37 can be smoothly moved up and down without being caught. Further, since the door lock 37 is provided with the pillar 41 to be inserted into the hole 31 of the support shaft 29, the pillar 41 serves as a guide to serve as the door lock 3 described above.
Allows 7 smooth vertical movement.

Further, in this tape cartridge, since all the components of the compression coil spring 30, the spring mounting member 34, the door spring 18, the opening / closing lid 17 and the door lock 37 can be assembled to the support shaft 29, Assembly can be improved and automation is realized.

The tape cartridge of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, after the spring mounting member 34 is attached to the support shaft 29, the door spring 18 and the opening / closing lid 17 are attached to the spring mounting member 34. The spring mounting member 34 may be attached to the support shaft 29 after the opening / closing lid 17 is attached.

[0059]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the tape cartridge of the present invention, the door spring and the opening / closing lid are easily assembled to the support shaft, and the door lock is easily assembled to the opening / closing lid. Thus, it is possible to provide a tape cartridge excellent in assemblability that enables the door lock to smoothly operate.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a tape cartridge to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of a main part of a portion to which an opening / closing lid is attached in the tape cartridge to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of a portion to which an opening / closing lid is attached in the tape cartridge to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of an essential part of a portion to which an opening / closing lid is attached in the tape cartridge to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional tape cartridge.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of a main part of a conventional tape cartridge to which an opening / closing lid is attached.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of a portion to which an opening / closing lid is attached in a conventional tape cartridge.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged plan view of an essential part of a portion to which the opening / closing lid is attached in the conventional tape cartridge.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Upper half 2 Lower half 3 Cartridge body 4 Upper flange 5 Lower flange 6 Magnetic tape 7 Tape reel 8 Reel spring 17 Open / close lid 18 Door spring 29 Support shaft 30 Compression coil spring 31 Hole 34 Spring mounting member 35 Rotation support 37 Door lock 40 Lock piece 41 Strut 48 Flange

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A single tape reel, in which a magnetic tape having an upper flange and a lower flange is wound, in a cartridge body composed of an upper half and a lower half, is constantly urged toward the lower half by a coil spring. It is stored as
In a tape cartridge in which an opening provided in the cartridge body can be opened and closed by an opening / closing lid, a cylindrical support shaft having a hole for accommodating a coil spring therein is provided on the inner surface of the upper half, A cylindrical spring mounting member having a flange at the lower end is mounted on the peripheral surface, a door spring is mounted on the peripheral surface of the spring mounting member, and a cylindrical rotation supporting portion provided on the opening / closing lid is mounted. A tape characterized in that a pillar of a door lock provided on the opening / closing lid is inserted into the hole of the support shaft, and the door lock can be moved up and down by an urging force of the coil spring in contact with a tip of the pillar. cartridge.